Development, Attachment and Relationship: New psychoanalytic concepts

The authors explore recent theories of chilhood development demonstraring how current knowledge of mother-child interaction and attachment have influenced psychoanalytic theories and the study of factors related to the formation of psychopathology and development of psychiatric disorder. According to attachment theory, a sensitive parent-child interaction allows secure development of the child. Results of research in this area can be applied to psychoanalytic therapy, where patterns of interaction are recounted from the past and present in the transference. The concept of dyadic interplay replaces the drive - conflict model and enrich the therapeutic relationship.